Category Archives: Misc.

Here is another article “Why Attorneys are Scum Bags”. I have written a few times about the long-running class action lawsuit against Apple alleging that its use of DRM on music (the “FairPlay” system) violated antitrust laws by locking users into Apple’s platform. The case is interesting on a few different levels — including the question of whether or not DRM could lead to antitrust violations (very interesting…) and showing how quickly the technology world changes (music DRM is basically

“I bought a private jet because I thought it would make me more efficient in my work.” In the early 2000s, William “Trip” Hawkins—founder of video game publisher Electronic Arts—was living the good life. He owned a private jet, two multi-million-dollar homes, sent his kids to private school, had four vehicles between himself and his wife, held San Francisco Giants season tickets, and employed a private staff. Hawkins appeared to be flush with cash. He once had an estimated worth of

I have health insurance. After years of not having health insurance I have health insurance through my employer since October 1st, 2014. For me not having health insurance was just cheaper than having it. I am basically a healthy guy. I saved every month something to cover the health expenses and my doctor is a good guy, he gives me his services at a very reasonable rate. But now it is the law in the United States to be health insured

This is part of my “Why Attorneys are Scumbags” series Los Angeles attorney has been recommended for a six-month suspension for posting digitally doctored photos to her official website. The case concerns Svitlana Sangary, who for two years featured dozens of realistic images of her posing at parties with the likes of President Obama, the Clintons, vice president Joe Biden, former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Nick Lachey on her site. (The link to the page has since been removed,

A few weeks ago, an anonymous internet user was able to acquire and subsequently extract a website blacklist used by Germany’s Federal Department of Media Harmful to Young Children (Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien [BPjM]). This un-hashed list was posted to the user’s Neocities blog, along with some analysis of the blacklist’s contents and a rundown on the minimal protective efforts used for the list. The actual blacklist is much more extensive than what’s published here. In fact, as is noted

The solidarity surcharge (Solidaritaetszuschlag) is an additional fee on income tax, capital gains tax and corporate tax in Germany. This means that the solidarity surcharge is to be paid by every natural and legal person that owes one of the above-mentioned taxes in Germany. Why did the German Government come up with that fee (it is not a tax, it is a fee, Lol)? As West and East Germany united, it was clear that the poor communist East Germany could not sustain

How does the ALS Association spend its millions? As the nation sweated out summer 2014, scores of people took to the supposedly charitable act of dumping ice water on their heads to raise awareness about ALS, a neuro-degenerative disease. In truth, the act of dumping cold water on one’s head was not really a charitable act, since doing so is merely an excuse to get out of being “obligated” to donate $100 to the ALS Association (ALSA), the charity behind

So the industry has been waiting to see if Apple can make “wearable tech” a thing. Apple has two advantages in this regard: The company places a very high value on aesthetics, and there’s no avoiding the fact that watches are generally understood to not merely be functional, but a form of jewelry. So maybe Apple can design a fake digital watch that you wouldn’t be embarrassed to wear. Apple’s customers are slavish idiots and will buy dog feces if

Red light machines are not human, and therefore their images can’t be hearsay. The California Supreme Court upheld the admissibility of images taken from red light cameras as evidence of traffic violations in the Golden State. The unanimous decision in the case, known as The People of California v. Goldsmith, marks the end of a five-year-old legal odyssey. Fines issued as the result of a red light camera in California are by far the highest nationwide ($436 in this case)—typically

Glenn Greenwald makes some really good points in a Guardian column (one of his last) discussing the reactions to the latest revelations about the NSA surveillance on citizens and (mainly) top politicians in other countries. The key one being, if these countries are really so outraged by these revelations, shouldn’t they be offering Ed Snowden asylum, since they appear to be admitting that these revelations are important? All of these governments keep saying how newsworthy these revelations are, how profound